


"I'll Be Home for Christmas"

by NerdWhoSaysNi



Series: Marvel Oneshots [8]
Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Holidays, Inspired by Music
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-08-19 07:25:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16530092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NerdWhoSaysNi/pseuds/NerdWhoSaysNi
Summary: Not really fluff, just kind of mushy.





	"I'll Be Home for Christmas"

**Author's Note:**

> Not really fluff, just kind of mushy.

_ I’ll be home for Christmas, _

_ You can count on me; _

_ Please have snow and mistletoe, _

_ And presents on the tree. _

 

_ Christmas Eve will find me _

_ Where the love-light gleams. _

_ I’ll be home for Christmas _

_ If only in my dreams. _

  
  


It was the first Christmas after WWIII and the first Christmas Haley would celebrate with her fiance. Normally, she observed each holiday in singularity. One at a time, she would get through Halloween and Thanksgiving, devoting her decorating skills and baking energy to each holiday. But Hal’s favorite holiday was Christmas. Midnight on Thanksgiving night, she would begin playing Christmas music; she dressed in little but red, green, gold, and white; she baked cookies and other treats every other day; she lived and breathed cheer and love and joy, and occasionally glitter. 

As usual, right at midnight when Black Friday shoppers were flooding stores, Hal was playing Christmas music and cutting paper snowflakes while reading new cookie recipes. The moonlight filtering through the window behind her was soft and clear, and just bright enough for her to see without cutting her fingers. This was going to be Loki’s first real Christmas, and his first Christmas not in handcuffs. She wanted to make it special.

Beside her, winter air drifted in through the partially open window and tickled her neck and arms. Jingle bells, sleigh bells, Salvation Army bells, and church bells somehow rose above the din of the city and whispered in her ears. Light flurries waltzed in the breeze on their way to the ground. Already, not even December yet, and the season was setting up to be the best Christmas ever.

The only problem was that Loki didn’t get the holiday off. He was constantly on call for SHIELD and the war clean-up effort. He had been home for Thanksgiving, but just before Hal sat down with some cider and poetry, he’d pulled her into his arms. “Hal, I’m so sorry, love. I have to leave, but I promise I’ll be home soon.”

“Will you be home for Christmas?” she asked.

“I will. I promise. I will do everything in my power to be here for Christmas and Christmas Eve.”

It had been a week. Haley tried to stay as positive as possible, baking and decorating and volunteering and playing with the twins. When Loki returned home for two days, they were delighted. They spent every last second together. They went ice skating and took walks through the park, admiring the snow covered trees and icy pond. They listened to street performers and sipped hot chocolate while watching carolers in the mall. At the end of the second day, they curled up under heavy comforters and fleece blankets and snuggled up for a Christmas movie marathon. Just as they finished with How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Loki got a phone call. 

“Excuse me, love. It’s the director.”

“I’ll be right here.” She kissed his cheek and watched him slide into his slippers before quietly answering the phone. 

It was just over fifteen minutes when Loki returned. “Bad news. I’m needed on the next trip.”

Haley just nodded. “You’re needed. It’s okay.” She said it to reassure herself more than anything. 

“I’ll be back before you know it, darling. I promise.”

Another week passed. Hal kept her hopes up by volunteering extra and playing piano carols for nursing homes and hospitals. She just had to stay busy. Toward the end of the week, Hal found a note on her pillow as she was getting into bed.  _ I’m sorry I missed you while you were out, but I can’t be too upset. You’re making so many people smile, so many who have not had a reason to smile in months. You are the angel children expect to see during the holidays. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous, but they get you for a day, and soon, you’ll be mine for a lifetime. I got called away again, but this trip should be shorter. I love you, Haley. -Loki _

As frustrated as she was that she didn’t get to see her fiance, she couldn’t be upset either. Seeing children laugh and smile and sing along to their favorite carols made her happier than nearly anything else in the world. Clutching the note to her chest, she fell asleep with a little smile still lingering on her face.

Within the following week, Hal bundled up and headed out to the nearest tree farm. She had originally wanted to wait until Loki got back so they could go looking together and decorate it together. Too late now. Her sole comfort was that at least there would be a tree for Loki to come back to. She set it up in a corner of their bedroom and strung the lights through the boughs. The twins helped her hang the ornaments, and she put Stephen on her shoulders to top it with the star.

At the end of the week, Loki didn’t come home. Haley became restless. Christmas was only a week and a half away. Would he be home in time?

She continued as best she could in the following days, but she couldn’t deny that she was running out of steam. Maybe this wasn’t going to be the best Christmas. Maybe it wouldn’t even be a good Christmas. Still not as bad as holidays during the war, but perhaps just above those.

One night, as she sat in bed, rereading “A Christmas Carol” for the twentieth time, a faint shimmer of light and motion caught her attention. She marked her page and looked up. At the wall, Loki stood with a tired smile lifting one side of his face.

“You’re back!” She scrambled out of bed and raced over to give him a hug, but her hands passed right through him. “Loki? What is this? What are you doing?” Confused, she stared at her hands, then at him, seemingly solid. It dawned on her slowly. “You’re not here, are you?”

Sadly, Loki shook his head. “I’m afraid not. I’m so sorry, Hal. I want to be here with you, but no one else can disarm the dark magic.” He took a moment to look around the room and admire the tree and lights and other decorations. “It’s beautiful. All of it. Whimsical and elegant.”

She still didn’t completely understand. She lifted one hand and tried to stroke his face, but her fingers only caused a rift in the fabric of his spell.

Sighing, Loki tried to explain. “It’s just an apparition. I can conjure my appearance in places I know well, or in places occupied by people whom I know well. I’m not here physically, but I am here mentally. At least for a short time. The spell is more taxing than I remembered.”

“You said you’d be home,” she stated helplessly.

The sadness in Loki’s eyes only grew. “I know. I’m so sorry. But I promise I’ll be home for Christmas.”

“That’s all I’m asking.” Haley so badly wanted to hug him and bury her face in his chest, but she still couldn’t touch him.

“I can’t stay much longer, love. My power is fading. I love you.”

“I love you too.” Since apparently he could see her, she did her best to try to give him a kiss even as he disappeared into a poof of green light.

Hal kept up with playing in hospitals and nursing homes, but she had stopped baking after accidentally lighting a batch of sugar-glass cookies on fire. Adam had come to the rescue when the smoke detector went off and wouldn’t stop beeping. As soon as the detector was taken care of, he tore into her, giving her grief for being so absent-minded and negligent. Not thirty seconds into his rant, she burst into tears.

“Adam!” Bri rushed into the kitchen and tried to get a sense of the chaos. “What the hell are you doing? Shut up!” She grabbed a towel for Haley to dry her face and rounded on Adam. “Get out. Now. Before I make you.” Her proximity to the knife block made her threat that much more terrifying.

The closer Christmas got, the less joy and cheer Hal felt. Five days left, no sign of her fiance. Four days- she finished her book and started over from the beginning. Three days- still no Loki, but Hal didn’t feel the loneliness with such raw emotion anymore. She had resigned herself to another Christmas without Loki.

Finally, Christmas Eve arrived and Hal had lost hope. She got herself dressed for the day and went out with the team as usual to help hand out gifts to kids in homeless shelters and foster homes. When the rest of the family sat for dinner, she made a small dish and excused herself upstairs. She ate while gazing over the city from the window seat before crawling into bed and devoting herself to her book.

Just as the clock hit 11pm and Hal was setting her book aside, she noticed motion by the wall. When she looked up, she wasn’t as happy as she should have been. “Loki. I waited. I tried my best to stay hopeful, but you weren’t here. This was supposed to be our first Christmas together, and I’ve spent most of it alone. You said you would be here.” She had been setting her alarm when she noticed him, and she became aware she was still holding it. “You told me you’d be home. You promised!” Her eyes brimming with tears, she wasn’t sure how her aim would be, but she threw the alarm clock at him anyway.

She snuffled and wiped her sleeve across her face, expecting to see the clock pass through his form and break against the wall. Instead, his hand shot out and caught the clock.

Hal froze. Her mouth fell open a fraction as she comprehended. “You’re- Loki, you’re- “ She threw off the blankets and raced toward him.

Laughing, Loki dropped the clock and caught her up in his arms. “I made a promise, love. I’m here. To stay now.”

Haley hugged him so tightly she thought her shoulders might dislocate. “I missed you so so much.”

“I missed you too, darling. I’m sorry I had to be gone. But it’s over now. The last of the magic has been lifted, and I won’t be needed for any more clean up missions.”

Hal couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She shifted onto her tiptoes so she was leaning fully on him, and buried her face in his neck. He held her closer and tighter and smiled into her hair. “Merry Christmas, darling,” he whispered.

“Merry Christmas,” she replied, just as softly. 


End file.
